Highway honors fallen heroes

Veteran sparks formal designation on M-62 in Cass; ceremony Friday.

Veteran sparks formal designation on M-62 in Cass; ceremony Friday.

May 20, 2008|LOU MUMFORD Tribune Staff Writer

Having grown up in the Cassopolis area, Bob Spalding was familiar with Cass County's Veterans Memorial Roadside Park that honors military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice. His brother, Donald, died in the Pacific and is one of 88 World War II casualties from the county whose names are listed on park plaques. A tail gunner on a B-29, he went down with his crew shortly after takeoff from Tinian, the island known for accommodating the Enola Gay and the atomic bomb. "They had a 3 a.m. takeoff," Spalding said Monday. "They were headed out on a bombing raid and reconnaissance mission for the second atomic bomb. Spalding said he, too, is a veteran and was fortunate the war had ended by the time he was called to active duty. He was in the Navy, serving on three ships. Now a resident of Buchanan, the 80-year-old Spalding said he thought about his brother and the county park on Michigan 62, northwest of Cassopolis, a couple of years ago when he was scanning a Michigan government Web site for veterans memorial highways. He was surprised M-62 wasn't included on the list, he said. Telephone calls to Lansing eventually connected him to the office of state Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks. Jessi Wortley, Jelinek's communications director, said Jelinek looked into the issue and discovered local officials had considered the stretch of highway, between Cassopolis and Dowagiac, as Veterans Memorial Highway and had even erected signs after the park was constructed in 1946. But the signs eventually disappeared and, because there had never been a formal designation as a memorial highway, the state had no authority to replace them. But bills introduced last year by Jelinek in the Senate and by state Rep. Rick Shaffer, R-Three Rivers, in the House officially designated the highway as Veterans Memorial Highway. Signs to the effect were erected recently, Wortley said, and a formal ceremony recognizing the effort is planned for 2 to 4 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Roadside Park.